Mega Millions and Powerball are approaching record numbers. Here's what the winner could buy if they hit the jackpot.
USA TODAY

Shauna Riggs, right, buys a Mega Millions ticket from Tammy Wigington, left, on Monday, Oct. 22, 2018 at the Village Mart convenience store in Pensacola. Mega Millions mania has gripped the nation as the jackpot climbs to a record-setting $1.6 billion, and people across Pensacola were buying their tickets on Monday ahead of Tuesday night's drawing.(Photo11: Annie Blanks/ablanks@pnj.com)

With the latest Mega Millions jackpot climbing to an all-time high over the weekend, people across Pensacola were asking themselves just that.

After no one had a winning ticket in Friday night's Mega Millions drawing for $1 billion, the estimated jackpot shot up to record-breaking $1.6 billion. The estimated cash option is about $904 million.

The Associated Press reports the jackpot will be the largest lottery prize in U.S. history when someone finally wins it, which could happen as soon as Tuesday night, when the next drawing takes place.

If someone were to hit the Powerball on top of winning the Mega Millions, their fortune could top $2.2 billion.

So is the next winner going to be from Pensacola? Anything is possible.

At the Village Mart Convenience Store on Ninth Avenue and East Baars Street, store clerk Tammy Wigington said Mega Millions mania was in full force starting Saturday.

"It's been crazy," Wigington said. "Yesterday I had people from out of town buying hundreds of dollars (of tickets) at once. They were buying for their parents, sisters and grandparents. A lot of people stranded here from Panama City are buying tickets, too. Some people are spending their last $2 in change on lottery tickets."

Shana Riggs of Pensacola bought tickets from the Village Mart on Monday afternoon. She said she plays the lottery regularly, but the potential billion-dollar payoff was exciting even for a longtime player.

"I'd probably keep $500,000 to buy a house and I'd take the rest to an investor," she said when asked what she'd do with the winnings. "I'd set up trusts for my kids. They'd have to work for it, I wouldn't just give it to them."

At the Circle K Convenience Store on East Cervantes Street, Tina Jones had driven in from Alabama, where there is no lottery, to purchase five tickets. She said she doesn't play the lottery regularly, but plays "just for the big ones."

If she wins, she said she's buying all six of her kids new homes and setting up college funds for her grandchildren.

"I think playing the lottery is fun every once in a while," she said. "As long as you don't gamble more than you can afford."

Michael Gaudet, also from Alabama, was a first-time lottery player who was buying tickets at the BP gas station at the corner of Ninth Avenue and Cervantes Street. He said he'd be responsible and practical with the funds if he were to win.

"I'd pay off my debt," he said. "I don't know what I'd do with the rest. I'm a pretty responsible person, so I wouldn't go crazy. Maybe I'd pay for my wedding or something."

But Danny Abdelwahed of Pensacola wasn't taking the bait. He said he hadn't bought any tickets and wasn't planning to soon.

"I'm not getting in on it," he said. "I can't justify spending that kind of money on something I most definitely am not going to win."